AAP defeat due to its own deeds: Sirsa

New Delhi: At the special session of the assembly on Tuesday, newly-elected BJP MLA Manjinder Singh

Sirsa

lashed out at

AAP

for blaming EVMs for its

defeat

in the recent municipal elections. He challenged the ruling party to prove its allegations at the meeting called by the Election Commission on Friday.

“EVMs were not responsible for AAP’s defeat; it lost polls due to its own deeds. People didn’t vote for the party (AAP) as it failed to fulfil the promises made to them before the elections. This is a bitter truth, which is difficult to digest,” Sirsa said in his first speech in the assembly after he won in the bypolls last month.

Meanwhile, AAP legislators raised the issue of EVM tampering, citing incidents from the recent municipal polls. Chandni Chowk MLA Alka

Lamba

and Mehrauli MLA Naresh Yadav highlighted their candidates’ defeat. Lamba and Yadav alleged that there were over 400 extra votes found during EVM counting.

“Where did the extra votes come from? Our candidate lost by only two votes,” said Lamba, who had initiated the discussion on the issue. Lamba also alleged that seal of three EVMs was found to be broken in Tughlaqabad ward.

Referring to the demonstration given by AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj, Sirsa said it was impossible to change the motherboard of 9 lakh EVMs in the country. He challenged AAP members to prove it in the upcoming meeting with EC. “They claim that motherboards of the EVMs were changed. There are 7.5-9 lakh EVMs in the country. When they have the code to change the motherboard and the winning formula, they should show it to the EC. We are ready to go with them (to the commission),” added Sirsa.

He listed the promises made by AAP—from 15 lakh CCTVs to 550 schools—which the ruling party has failed to deliver on. He said that the party, which promised alternative politics and

Jan Lokpal

, has corruption cases registered against it. He also alleged that a person had given Satyendar Jain Rs 7 crore at the CM’s house. But his allegations were expunged from the assembly proceedings by the Speaker.

Mehrauli MLA Naresh Yadav questioned BJP’s silence on the EVM issue, which their leaders had raised long ago. “EVM tampering is a threat to our democracy…Why is BJP, which had raised the issue of EVMs in the past, silent on it today,” asked Yadav.

Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti said that there are only two countries—India and South Africa—which are using EVMs. “What we have seen today reflects the biggest fraud of EVMs. South Africa and India are the only countries using EVM. Is South Africa, India’s role model,” asked Bharti while pushing for the use of VVPAT.